


Semester Five

by Lithal



Series: Dorks in University [6]
Category: Haikyuu!!, Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-29 19:32:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17209616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lithal/pseuds/Lithal
Summary: As always, thanks to our_flame_never_goes_out :D





	Semester Five

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thanks to our_flame_never_goes_out :D

“I’ll get the door,” Kasamatsu said, hearing a knock. He was back at the apartment for another year of school, and had been mindlessly browsing the internet for the past hour, waiting for Kise to arrive. He opened the door, and found himself staring at an older, female version of Kise.

“Hello, hello!” she said cheerfully. “You’re more handsome in real life,” she added. “Oh, I’m Ryouta’s sister, by the way. He’s bringing the boxes up.”

“Uh,” Kasamatsu said. He was spared from answering by Kuroo and Kenma, who had emerged from their room, no doubt curious about who was visiting them.

“Hello,” Kuroo said pleasantly.

“You must be the others,” Kise’s sister said. “I’m Ryouta’s sister, Natsuko.”

Kuroo introduced himself and Kenma.

“Hmm,” she said. “He’s told me a lot about you two. But he does not shut up about _you_ ,” she added, pointing at Kasamatsu. At that moment, Kise appeared with a bright pink luggage cart loaded with his belongings. Natsuko turned to him. “Good catch, Ryouta!” she said, walking into the apartment so he could roll the cart in and unload it.

“You know about us?” Kasamatsu asked.

Natsuko laughed in amusement. “Of course. Who do you think he talked to when he was a baby bisexual? Are you going to have to make another trip to the car or did you manage to stuff everything on the cart?” she asked, addressing Kise.

“One more trip,” Kise said, depositing the boxes in the living room. Kasamatsu moved to help him while Kuroo offered Kise’s sister something to drink and they started chatting.

Once Kasamatsu and Kise had brought up everything, Natsuko got up to leave. “It was nice meeting all of you,” she said. Then she looked Kasamatsu square in the eye. “I’ll have you know that I love my little brother very much, and I also have a black belt in karate.”

“Uh…” Kasamatsu said, a little scared.

“I’m just teasing, you seem like a nice kid,” she said, laughing heartily. “I’ll be heading home now. You take care of each other, okay?” she added before reaching out to ruffle Kasamatsu’s hair as if he was her little brother instead of Kise. She then squeezed Kise into a tight hug, patted his cheek, waved at the others, and walked out the door.

“Your sister is a force of nature,” Kuroo said, sounding impressed. “And she’s really nice too.”

“She’s the best,” Kise said enthusiastically, seemingly unembarrassed by any of the sisterly displays of affection that they had all just been subjected to. He was about to say something else but was interrupted by a yawn.

“Tired?” Kasamatsu asked. “Let’s get all of this cleared away and then you can sleep.”

“But I missed you, senpai,” Kise whined. “I’m starved for your touch.”

Kuroo snorted, and Kasamatsu bit back the urge to smack both Kise and Kuroo upside their heads. Thankfully, Kenma rolled his eyes at this display and pulled Kuroo back into their room, leaving Kise and Kasamatsu in the living room. Kise looked at him with a look that he found hard to ignore.

“Kise, we’re going to be sleeping in the same bed every night,” Kasamatsu said. “Now, come on. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go to bed.”

“I don’t even get a welcome home hug?” Kise pouted.

Kasamatsu flicked him lightly on the forehead. “After you’ve showered. I don’t want your sweat on my clothes.” Kise looked so put out by that that Kasamatsu rolled his eyes and gave him a quick kiss. “There. Happy? Come on, let’s get started on this.”

It took them a while to move all the boxes that needed to go to the bedroom, because there were so many of them. Kise chattered on as they worked, Kasamatsu not really paying attention to him, but not completely tuning him out either. He huffed as he put the last box down in the room. Kise was opening the first one up and pulling out his clothes.

“Kise,” Kasamatsu interrupted some story he was telling about Aomine. Kise shut up and looked at him inquisitively. “I didn’t want to say this in front of your sister,” Kasamatsu began. _Because she seems a little scary and can probably beat me up if I get on her wrong side,_ he added mentally. “But you do realize we have one room in the apartment, right? Where is all of this going to fit? What is all of this anyway?” he asked, gesturing at the boxes they had brought in.

“It’s everything I’m going to need, senpai,” Kise said. “I’ll make it fit, don’t worry. Could you help with the boxes that go outside? I’ll take care of these.”

Kasamatsu shrugged and did as he was asked. There were only a couple of boxes in the living room, but they were fairly large and he had no idea what Kise could’ve brought in them. As he dug through them, it turned out that most of the things Kise had brought were by no means necessary for student life, but they could definitely come in handy. There was a blender, which would be nice to make smoothies with. Kuroo would appreciate that particularly. He was very fond of smoothies and lamented their lack of a blender once every two or three days. There was even a fancy toothbrush holder, which would be a great replacement for the cup they’d been using, as it was getting pretty nasty at the bottom. Kasamatsu quickly put the things where they needed to go, thinking he could help Kise with the rest of his stuff if he wanted it.

Before he could do that, Kise emerged from the bedroom, carrying the collapsed boxes. “Senpai, what do I do with these?” he asked.

“Put them on top of the fridge. That’s where all our boxes are,” Kasamatsu answered, impressed at Kise’s speed. He better not have just dumped everything haphazardly around their room. It was a little strange thinking about it as _their_ room, now that it was official.

“Done unpacking?” Kuroo asked, emerging from the bedroom and going to the kitchen. “Is this a blender? This is great. Protein shakes for everyone,” he added loudly.

“No,” came Kenma’s surprisingly loud answer from inside the room. He had very good ears when it came to stuff that involved or interested him.

“Are you going to eat dinner?” Kuroo asked Kasamatsu.

“I want to shower first,” he answered.

“Why don’t you shower together? Save water _and_ time,” Kuroo suggested.

“Is it big enough to fit two people?” Kasamatsu asked sceptically.

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Kuroo answered.

“You sound like you speak from experience,” Kasamatsu commented.

“Obviously,” Kuroo said as if Kasamatsu was stupid.

“Since when?” Kasamatsu asked, surprised.

“Senpai, how did you not know?” Kise piped up.

“You knew?” Kasamatsu turned to Kise.

“Of course. It’s hard to miss when two people come out of the bathroom one after the other, both freshly showered.”

“This isn’t about us, anyway,” Kuroo said. “Trust me, it’s big enough for two people.”

“Senpai,” Kise said, a very familiar tone in his voice.

“Fine,” Kasamatsu said, feeling himself flush.

“Just don’t get too frisky in there,” Kuroo said, waggling his eyebrows at them. “And be safe.”

“Fuck off,” Kasamatsu snapped, embarrassed. “Are you going to do this all year?”

“Definitely,” Kuroo answered easily. “Nothing makes me happier than seeing you squirm in discomfort.”

“Asshole,” Kasamatsu muttered, narrowing his eyes at Kuroo. “Let’s go, Kise.”

“I’ll bring the towels,” Kise said. 

It turned out that the shower was indeed big enough for two, even if it took them some time to get used to maneuvering without elbowing each other. Kasamatsu discovered that Kise hummed while he showered. It was pretty amusing. He decided showering together wasn’t as awkward as he had imagined it would be. He could get used to this.

* * *

 

“Are you ready for university?” Kuroo asked Kise the next day. He was dressed in his rep suit for frosh. Kasamatsu had stuck by his vow of never being a frosh leader again, and was going to spend the last week of summer in the apartment, relaxing.

“Yes,” Kise said, pouring himself a bowl of cereal. “I’ve heard business kids get a bunch of cool stuff during frosh.”

“Oh, so you’re excited for the free stuff?” Kasamatsu asked.

“Yes. Maybe I should’ve gone into business instead,” Kise answered, eating his cereal. Kasamatsu noticed he was eating it dry.

“Aren’t you going to put milk in that?” he asked.

Kise stared at him as if he was crazy. “Why would I do that?” he asked.

Kuroo snorted a laugh. “So you’re one of those?” he said, amused.

Kise frowned. “One of what? I always eat my cereal like this,” he said.

“We’re incompatible,” Kasamatsu said with a straight face.

Kise pouted. “Senpai, you should try your cereal without milk,” he said.

“No, thanks,” Kasamatsu said. “You’re wearing sunscreen, right?”

“Of course. I don’t want my skin to get ruined,” Kise said with an offended sniff.

Kasamatsu shook his head. “Don’t forget to bring a water bottle with you.”

“You sound like a mom, Kasamatsu,” Kuroo observed.

“You’re even worse and you know it,” Kasamatsu countered.

“Touché,” Kuroo conceded. “Alright, I better go before too many kids arrive and get a chance to wander around without supervision. Maybe I’ll see you around on campus, Kise,” he added, grabbing his small duffel bag and heading out. Kise followed him soon after, and Kasamatsu decided to go back to sleep. He hadn’t planned to get up before noon today, but Kise’s alarm had woken him up.

* * *

 

When Kasamatsu woke up again, he thought he heard an unfamiliar voice in the living room. Curious, he got out of bed to check who it was. Neither Kise nor Kuroo would be back yet, so they couldn’t have brought people over. He walked into the living room to find Kenma and a vaguely familiar guy playing a game. They both looked up at him.

“Hello,” Kenma’s friend said cheerfully. “Weren’t you on the Kaijo basketball team?” he asked.

“Uh, yes. And you were on…?” Kasamatsu said, trying to remember what team he had seen this guy on. “Shutoku?” he guessed.

“Yup. Takao Kazunari,” he introduced himself.

“Kasamatsu Yukio,” Kasamatsu said, wondering how many more people from the Miracles’ teams he would run into. “Aren’t you a freshman?”

“Yes,” Takao said.

“So…how do you know each other?” Kasamatsu asked.

“Oh, we met when I was on a campus tour earlier in the year. I got separated form my tour group and bumped into him. He glared at me for making him drop his phone, I asked him for help, and then ended up talking to him for a couple of hours,” Takao explained. “Do you want to play with us?”

“Uh, no. You two have fun,” Kasamatsu said. He wondered if Kenma somehow attracted the talkative types. He returned to his room and decided to waste his time on the internet.

A few hours later, he was watching a random video about spider mating dances when he thought he heard something break. Sighing, he paused the video and went out to check. Kenma and Takao were in the kitchen, and the remains of what had been a drinking glass full of juice littered the floor.

“Don’t touch it…” Kenma said just as Takao picked up a piece of glass, and promptly cut himself upon it.

Kasamatsu’s eye twitched and he wished for calm. “Out, both of you. Careful around the glass,” he ordered. Kenma obeyed, stepping around the mess. Takao sheepishly backed out the kitchen as well. Kasamatsu surveyed them. “Okay, go wash your cut,” he told Takao. “Then put a bandage on it. I’ll clean up here.” Takao nodded and went to the bathroom. Kasamatsu put the first aid kit on the table, took the broom that Kenma offered him, and started sweeping the glass.

And that was how Kuroo discovered him, sweeping the corners of the kitchen to make sure he had gotten all the glass. “What happened here?”

“Broken glass,” Kasamatsu said. “Kenma’s friend Takao.”

“Oh, him,” Kuroo said, unsurprised. “He’s…chaotic. You need help?”

“No, I’m done,” Kasamatsu said. “You want to check on his hand? He cut it on the broken glass. Is Kise back?”

“Yeah, I’ll take a look. No, I don’t think so, unless he came in before me,” Kuroo answered.

Once Kasamatsu was sure he had cleared away every piece of glass, he put the broom away and exited the kitchen. Takao and Kenma still sat on the couch, playing games. Kuroo was nowhere to be seen. Kasamatsu figured he had probably taken a look at Takao’s cut, but his mother hen instinct insisted that he take a look at it as well.

“How’s your hand?” he asked.

“It’s okay,” Takao said, and held it out obediently when Kasamatsu extended his hand. Kise chose that moment to walk into the apartment.

“What is happening?” he asked, staring at Kasamatsu’s hand, which still held on to Takao’s.

“Kise? I didn’t know you went here,” Takao said, surprised, extracting his hand.

“Takao. I didn’t know you went here either,” Kise said coldly. “Senpai, why were you holding his hand?”

“He cut his hand on some glass,” Kenma said. “Kasamatsu-san was checking up on it.”

“So nice of him,” Kise said. “I’m going to shower and sleep. Have fun. Senpai, are you sleeping soon?”

“Hm? I’ll sleep in a bit. You go on ahead,” Kasamatsu said. Kise looked at him for a moment and then disappeared into their bedroom. Kasamatsu wondered what that had been about.

* * *

 

Kasamatsu slept in the next morning, and Kise was already gone when he woke up. He spent the day lazing around, watching more videos and scrolling through various social media sites. He was bored, but he also didn’t want to go outside since it was pretty hot that day. He was watching a food video when his phone buzzed with a text. He checked his phone and saw that the text was from Imayoshi, inviting him to a party at his apartment that night. It was a little unexpected, since they hadn’t really hung out after their tutorial last year, but Kasamatsu was bored, so he figured he might as well go.

He didn’t know if he needed to bring something to the party, so he just went empty-handed because he was lazy and cheap. He knocked on the door of the apartment and a cheerful-looking guy with light hair opened the door. The guy smiled brightly at him. “Hi, come on in. We were just going to start playing Cards Against Humanity. Want to join? I’m Sugawara Koushi, by the way.”

Kasamatsu was a little suspicious of this guy. Anyone who hung out with Imayoshi was a suspicious character, in his opinion. He introduced himself and followed Sugawara inside. It was more a get-together than a party, it seemed. There were only a few people, all of them guys, and they were all sitting in a circle on a rug in the living room, shots laid out in front of them.

“Kasamatsu, ya made it!” Imayoshi said cheerfully. “Come join us. Everyone, this is Kasamatsu. Kasamatsu, this is everyone.”

Kasamatsu nodded at them and joined the circle. Imayoshi dealt the cards, and the game began with the rule that the losers each round would take a shot. Since Sugawara somehow won every round, it didn’t take long for everyone else to start getting tipsy. He had a really dirty mind for someone who looked so angelic. Kasamatsu’s instinct to be wary had been right.

“You live with your roommate from back in first year, dontcha?” Imayoshi asked at some point, slurring his words. Kasamatsu had a sneaking suspicion that the guy had been taking more shots than he should have.

“Yeah, why?” he answered. Or tried to, anyway. He wasn’t sure if the words had actually exited his mouth.

“Shoulda brought him along too,” Imayoshi said. “Haven’t seen him since first year. Was a fun guy. Never came to any parties though. ‘S a shame.”

“Mm,” Kasamatsu said, not really listening. He tried to stand up, which took an embarrassing amount of effort and time. Thankfully he didn’t have to go far to get back to his own apartment. “I’m gonna go home now. Y’all have fun,” he said, swaying a little. He thought someone said something to him, but didn’t really pay attention to what it was, and headed unsteadily out the door.

The next thing he knew, he was sitting in the hallway, and his phone was buzzing in his hand. He squinted at the screen, gave up, and answered the call. “Mm?” he said.

“Kasamatsu, where are you?” a familiar voice asked from the other end of the phone.

“Kuroo?”

“Who else? Are you drunk?”

“Just a little,” Kasamatsu reassured him.

“Holy shit, you’re wasted. Where the hell are you?”

“In the hallway,” Kasamatsu said. He really wanted Kuroo to stop talking so he could doze off.  

“In the hallway _where_? What apartment number are you near?” Kuroo asked. 

Kasamatsu squinted at the door across him and told Kuroo the apartment number. Because Kuroo told him to stay put, he closed his eyes after the call ended. A few seconds later, he felt someone shake his shoulder, and opened his eyes to see Kuroo and Kenma looking down at him.

“Get up,” Kuroo said, pulling him to his feet. “How much did you have to drink, exactly?” he asked, steadying him with an arm around his waist.

“A few shots,” Kasamatsu said. He just wanted to sleep. Thankfully, Kuroo said nothing and they headed back to the apartment. Kuroo took him to the bedroom and unceremoniously pushed him onto the bed, where Kise was already sleeping.

“Go to sleep, you drunkard,” Kuroo said. Even through his drunken stupor, Kasamatsu could feel the disapproval coming off in waves from his friend. But since he was in no condition to argue, he obeyed and kicked his shoes off before curling up on the bed and going to sleep.

* * *

 

The next morning, Kasamatsu woke up with a killer headache. He pushed himself out of bed to grab some water, and had to stop and take a few deep breaths to stop himself from throwing up. When he finally made it to the kitchen, he saw that there was some medicine out on the counter, probably set out by Kuroo. Thankful for not having to dig into the first aid kit, he popped out one of the pills and swallowed it with some water. He had many regrets about last night.

Not in the mood to eat just yet, he padded to the bathroom to clean up. He needed a cold shower and a shave. Feeling a little better after the shower, he decided to have breakfast. He was just spreading jam on some toast when Kise walked into the kitchen, groaning and holding his head.

“Are you okay?” Kasamatsu asked, concerned when Kise winced.

“Shh, senpai, not so loud,” Kise said, pouring himself a glass of water and grabbing the pills from the counter.

“Oh, you’re both up,” Kuroo said, walking into the kitchen, much too cheerful and much too loud. “Am I too loud? Sorry,” he added, louder than before.

“Kuroo-san, stop,” Kise whined.

“Yeah, okay,” Kuroo said. “We’re going to have a talk over breakfast,” he added in a tone that booked no arguments. Kasamatsu wondered if he was pissed off about something.

They were halfway through breakfast before Kuroo brought up what he wanted to talk about. “So,” he said, “ _both_ of you got wasted last night.”

“Both of us?” Kasamatsu echoed. He hadn’t even known Kise had gone out to drink.

“Yes, my friend. Both of you,” Kuroo said, unimpressed. “Normally I’d laugh at how wasted you were,” he said, pointing his spoon at Kasamatsu, “but I was already pissed off that _this one_ ,” he jabbed the spoon at Kise, “had gone out drinking with a bunch of seniors even though he’s underage.”

Kise avoided Kuroo’s eyes and mumbled something incoherent. Apparently Kenma heard him, because he spoke sharply, surprising Kasamatsu. “The problem isn’t that you went drinking, Ryouta. It’s that you went drinking with people you don’t know without telling any of us and then proceeded to get so wasted that someone had to tell Kuro to come get you.”  

“Good thing someone there knew me and knew that I know you,” Kuroo said. “Next time, let one of us know.”

Kise grumbled something too low for Kasamatsu to make out.

“I didn’t hear you,” Kuroo said in an annoyingly nagging tone, which Kasamatsu guessed he was doing deliberately. Kuroo could be a real ass if he wanted.

“I _said_ ‘okay,’” Kise snapped.

“Good,” Kuroo said, not bothered at all. “You should probably head out soon or you’ll miss all the fun events.”

“Ugh, I’m going to stay in today and sleep,” Kise said. “I’ll go tomorrow.”

Kuroo shrugged. “Up to you. I would suggest that you don’t miss the Battle of the Yams, though. It’s the highlight of frosh every year.”

Kise stared at him. “The battle of the what?” he asked.

“Yams,” Kuroo answered with a straight face.

“Senpai, is this a real thing?” Kise asked, turning to Kasamatsu.

“Yes,” Kasamatsu answered, even though he had no idea if it actually was. It sounded like it _shouldn’t_ be, but that was probably exactly why it was true. He wouldn’t put it past the student body at the university to have something that sounded as ridiculous as this. Unbidden, a picture of grown adults wrestling while wearing yam costumes came to his mind, and he stifled a giggle. Maybe he was still a little drunk.  

“Kenma, what’s the Battle of the Yams?” Kise asked.

“Probably something dumb,” Kenma said, uninterested. “I didn’t go.”

Kise looked back at Kuroo questioningly, but Kuroo just stared back with an annoying smirk on his face.

“It’s a school secret. Only people who attend it can know what it is,” he said.

“That sounds sketchy as hell,” Kasamatsu pointed out.

“Don’t judge it by its name, Kasamatsu,” Kuroo said. “I expected more from you.”

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes. “I’m going back to sleep,” he announced once he was done eating and had cleared the plates. “Don’t wake me up unless there’s a fire,” he  said. “And you,” he turned to Kise and lightly knocked on his forehead. “If you do go out, don’t forget to refill your water bottle.”

“Aww, you’re so cute and domestic,” Kuroo cooed.

“Piss off, Kuroo,” Kasamatsu said, without any heat. It was quickly becoming a commonly used phrase for him, he thought as he headed back to the bedroom and flopped down on the bed. The headache was starting to die down, but he still wanted to get some more sleep. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any disasters to wake him up before he was ready.

 

Of course, he would have no such luck. The blaring fire alarm and the smell of smoke woke him up. He opened his eyes to a room that looked suspiciously smoky. Cursing, he leapt out of bed and ran outside, his mind flashing back to the last time this had happened. He was thankful that he wasn’t wearing only a towel this time.

The living room was even more smoky, and he threw open the windows to let it out before heading to the kitchen, where he saw Kenma using the fire extinguisher on the stove. He quickly turned the fire alarm off.

“What’s happening? Are you okay?” Kasamatsu asked. Kenma didn’t look hurt or panicked, which he took as a good sign. 

“I’m fine. Kise turned the wrong stove on,” Kenma said. It was then that Kasamatsu noticed that the rear burner had a pan full of vegetables in it.

“Where is he?” Kasamatsu asked.

Kenma shrugged. “I think he stepped out.”

“With the stove on?” Kasamatsu asked, feeling a headache building.

“Apparently,” Kenma said, putting the fire extinguisher back.

“This is the second time he’s almost set the place on fire. Maybe we shouldn’t let him near the stove,” Kasamatsu said.

“Or you could teach him how to use one,” Kenma said, deadpan. He paused, looking at the vegetables in the pan. “Although that might not help much,” he said, gesturing at the vegetables.

Kasamatsu looked at them as well and saw that they were chopped very haphazardly, and were covered in something gold and thick.

“Is that honey?” he said, dipping his finger into it. “It’s honey.”

Kenma raised his eyebrows slightly as if that proved his point, then walked out of the kitchen and presumably back to his room. Kasamatsu decided to get rid of the offending honey-covered vegetables before Kise could get back. He was washing the pan when Kise walked in.

“I was going to cook some vegetables in that,” Kise said.

“You left the wrong stove on and almost burned the whole place down,” Kasamatsu informed him.

“Oh,” Kise said. “Were the vegetables okay?”

“Both Kenma and I are fine, thanks for asking,” Kasamatsu said pointedly. Kise failed to look ashamed. “The vegetables were untouched by the fire, but they had a bigger disaster hit them.”

“What?” Kise asked, confused.

“You,” Kasamatsu said, stacking the pan neatly into the drying rack.

“Me?”

“Yes. You realize you’d layered them with honey instead of oil?” Kasamatsu asked.

“Oh. Is that why it was so thick?” Kise asked in return. “That makes sense, actually.”

“You didn’t realize you were pouring stuff out of the honey container?” Kasamatsu asked. “It literally says ‘honey’ on the bottle.”

“I didn’t notice,” Kise said.

“Hm. You should stay away from the stove,” Kasamatsu told him, shaking water off his hands. “Considering you always manage to mess up.”

“It’s only happened twice, Senpai,” Kise whined.

“You’ve only used the stove twice. That’s a hundred percent failure rate,” Kasamatsu pointed out.

Kise crossed his arms across his chest. “But what if I’m the only one here and I’m hungry?”

“Order in. You’re definitely not touching the stove when you’re here alone,” Kasamatsu said, for once unmoved by Kise’s pout. “There’s food in the fridge you can heat up if you’re hungry right now.”

Kise shook his head. “It’s okay. I’ll eat later. Do you want to game with me?”

“Aren’t you going to the Battle of the Yams or whatever it was?”

“It already happened.”

Kasamatsu raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What was it, then?”

“It’s a secret,” Kise said easily. “Come play with me, Senpai.”

Kasamatsu shook his head and followed Kise to the living room to play with him. Kise got ridiculously competitive and pouted whenever Kasamatsu’s random button-mashing ended up with him winning a game. It was very amusing, and Kasamatsu kept repeating the same move just to frustrate Kise. He could get used to this.

* * *

 

“Senpai, help me with my assignment?” Kise said one evening. It was the middle of October, which meant everyone had a million tests and assignments due all in the same few days. Kasamatsu, Kise, and Kenma were spread out over the living room, working on things. Kuroo was still in class.

“What course is it for?” Kasamatsu asked, glancing at everything Kise had spread out on the couch.

“English for journalism. We’re doing a case study.”

“Why the hell are you taking English for journalism?”

Kise shrugged. “A lot of people said it was an easy course.”

“Are these people majoring in journalism? Are you even that good at English?” Kasamatsu asked.

“It was my best mark in high school, Senpai,” Kise reminded him.

“You know I’m not that good at English. You’d be better off asking someone else. If you’ve got any questions about math or engineering, I’m your guy.”

“You’re my guy regardless, Senpai.”

“Oh my god.” Kasamatsu flushed. “Get back to work, you little shit.”

“I really do need help with the assignment,” Kise said.

“Yeah, well, ask in the course group chat or something. I’m no use to you here.”

“The course group chat is useless. I muted it three weeks ago. Most people just complain about the professor or send stickers.”

“Go to tutorials.”

Kise hummed. “Okay. I have another assignment I need help with.”

“What course?”

“English literature. Longer genres. It’s basically reading novels and writing essays.”

“How many English courses are you taking?”

“Just the two. I’ve been researching old clothing for my essay. Do you know what a jabot is?”

“No.”

“It’s a decorative ruffle at the neckline of either a dress or a shirt.”

“That’s nice. What do you need help with?”

“Just proofreading. I think I’m almost done the essay but I don’t know if it makes sense.”

“Still can’t help you with it.”   

“I guess I’m done for now then. Time to make some smoothies. Do you want a smoothie, Senpai?”

Kasamatsu shook his head. “Do you know how to make a smoothie?” he asked.

Kise narrowed his eyes. “Senpai. I can operate a blender,” he said, indignant.

Kasamatsu raised his hands. “Just making sure.”

Kise huffed and didn’t dignify Kasamatsu with a response. “Kenma, smoothie?”

“Sure,” Kenma said, not looking away from his computer.

“Should I make one for Kuroo-san?”

“Sure.”

“Are you even listening to me?”

“Sure.”

“Okay. Smoothies coming right up. Senpai, you never said if you wanted one,” Kise said, turning back to Kasamatsu. He supposed he was forgiven for questioning Kise’s blending skills.

“Sure, I’ll take one,” Kasamatsu said.

A few minutes later, Kise proudly placed a smoothie in front of Kasamatsu and sat down next to him. “Here’s your smoothie, Senpai,” he said.

“Thanks,” Kasamatsu said. He looked at the smoothie, and surreptitiously sniffed at it before taking a cautious sip. It lacked a bit of sugar but was surprisingly okay. “Oh wow, this actually tastes okay,” he said out loud.

“Senpai,” Kise said, tone deceptively calm. “Were you expecting it to be horrible?”

Kasamatsu stopped to think. Kise’s tone probably meant he was either going to whine or sulk if Kasamatsu insulted him. Whiny Kise was pretty easy to deal with, but sulky Kise wasn’t fun, and Kasamatsu wanted to avoid dealing with him if he could help it.

“I wasn’t expecting it to be _horrible_. Just not…very good,” Kasamatsu said. “I like this. What did you put in it?” he added before Kise could make up his mind about how to respond.

“Oh, just some yogurt, bananas, strawberries, and milk. And a couple of slices of kiwi,” Kise answered. “I didn’t put any sugar in yours. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, it’s good,” Kasamatsu said, reaching over to ruffle Kise’s hair. “Thanks.”

He went back to work, Kise just sitting next to him and watching, and occasionally asking him what certain things meant. Some time later, Kuroo returned from class.

“I’m back,” he said, stifling a yawn. “Aw, look at you two, so cute,” he added, addressing Kasamatsu and Kise. Kise had put his head on Kasamatsu’s shoulder at some point, and was currently fast asleep.

“You’re late,” Kenma commented.

“Sorry,” Kuroo said, pulling off his shoes. “Found out my lab partner grew the wrong bacterial cells, and I had to grow a new batch for him because he commutes to school.”

“That sucks,” Kasamatsu said. “I think Kise made a smoothie for you. It’s probably in the fridge.”

“Oh, cool,” Kuroo said, dropping his bag and going to the kitchen. He emerged just a second later. “Have you looked at the kitchen?” he asked nobody in particular.

“No, why?” Kenma asked.

“It’s a disaster in there,” Kuroo said. “The blender hasn’t been washed, everything that’s supposed to be in the fridge is outside the fridge, and I swear there’s a dollop of yogurt on the ceiling. How did it even _get_ there?”

“Just leave it. I’ll make him clean it,” Kasamatsu said. He flicked Kise on the forehead.

“Ow, Senpai!” Kise said, startling awake.

“Go clean up the mess you left in the kitchen,” Kasamatsu said sternly. “You’re not a little kid.”

“I’m actually impressed at the proportion of mess to smoothie,” Kuroo said. “Tell me how you got the yogurt on the ceiling.”

Kise hurried to the kitchen and pushed a laughing Kuroo into the kitchen with him. Kasamatsu was curious about the explanation behind the yogurt on the ceiling, but his assignment was due in less than an hour, so he didn’t have time to waste. He would have to ask Kise another time. Right now it was time to re-read his report before submitting it. He was going to be so glad when he could theoretically cast all his reports and assignments in a pit and burn them.

* * *

 

“Do you think he can be cloyed into it?” Kasamatsu heard Kise asking someone in the kitchen as he stepped into the apartment.

“Wow, are you trying to flex your vocab?” Kuroo answered. “‘Cloyed.’”

“I’m back,” Kasamatsu announced. He could have stayed quiet and listened, but he wasn’t an eavesdropper.

“Senpai!” Kise said, emerging from the kitchen with a brilliant smile. “You’re back early!”

“We had a TA teach today and she let us go early. Who are you cloying into what?”

“Oh, nothing,” Kise said, which made him immediately suspicious.

Kuroo had also emerged from the kitchen and was leaning against the entrance. He grinned and said, “He wants to go on a date and was asking me for advice on how to bribe you into going.”

“Why would he ask you for advice on this?” Kasamatsu said flatly.

Kuroo clutched his chest, mock offended. “Ouch. How you’ve grown. I’m going to get back to cooking. We’re having lemongrass chicken with rice.” With that, he disappeared into the kitchen again.

Kasamatsu sighed and deposited his umbrella near the shoe rack. Kise was still standing halfway between the kitchen and the door, as if unsure where to go.

“Why are you standing like a lost kitten? Come on,” Kasamatsu said, depositing his bag near the couch and heading to the bedroom. He motioned to Kise to close the door and dug into the closet for clothes. “Okay, so where do you want to go?” he asked.

“What?”

“I guess I should ask if Kuroo was telling the truth or just being the little shit that he is. Do you want to go on a date?”

Kise stared at him in shock and then a smile split his face. “Yes,” he said enthusiastically. “There’s this movie called ‘Fie’ that was just released. It’s a retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk except in modern times and it’s a romantic comedy.”

“It’s a modern-day romantic comedy retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk,” Kasamatsu repeated. Maybe this was why Kise thought he needed to be worn down to agree.

“No good?” Kise asked, his face falling.

“No, it’s fine. We can go,” Kasamatsu found himself saying. He was going to regret this decision, he thought, but it was worth seeing Kise smile so happily. “When’s the next show?”

“There’s one later tonight, if you want to go to that one,” Kise suggested.

“Sure. I don’t have anything I need to finish tonight. Do you want to ask Kenma and Kuroo too?”

“Why not?”

Kise asked Kuroo and Kenma if they wanted to go watch the movie at dinner, which Kuroo had done a very good job at, to Kasamatsu’s surprise. Kenma gave Kise a disgusted look but agreed, probably because Kuroo looked excited at the prospect of watching a romantic comedy. Kasamatsu had learned Kuroo was a sap.

The movie theater was pretty empty, which was great. The movie was pretty funny, but Kasamatsu didn’t entirely get the plot. He also saw Kise inching a hand towards his, rolled his eyes, and turned his hand so Kise could intertwine his fingers with his. Kasamatsu couldn’t help smiling a little at how happy Kise looked.

“How cute,” he heard Kuroo whisper.

“You’re one to talk,” Kasamatsu whispered back. Kenma had his head resting on Kuroo.

Kuroo smirked and turned his attention back to the movie. Kasamatsu shook his head and did the same.  

“Did you like the movie, Senpai?” Kise asked afterwards, as they walked back from the station.

“It was pretty good,” Kasamatsu replied. “Nice rags and jags to self-made millionaire story. At least, that’s what I think happened.”

“There was totally some sexual tension between the main character and that quoter Xu guy,” Kuroo commented.

“Well, in the book the main character does end up with Xu,” Kise said. Kasamatsu noticed he was shivering a little.

“You read?” Kuroo asked, eyes wide.

Kise narrowed his eyes. “Yes. I do,” he said, jutting his chin. And then he mumbled, “Sometimes.”

Kuroo snorted. “Sometimes is better than never.”

“Are you cold, Kise?” Kasamatsu asked.

“A little,” Kise admitted. Kasamatsu eyed the shirt he was wearing.

“I told you to wear a sweater. Want to stop for hot chocolate?”

“Or you could kiss him. That’ll warm him right up,” Kuroo suggested with an evil grin.

Kasamatsu cast a quick glance to make sure there weren’t other people around, and then looked at Kise, who didn’t look opposed to being kissed. Kasamatsu decided to take the challenge, and pulled Kise into a kiss. When they broke apart (after Kenma loudly cleared his throat), Kise’s cheeks were flushed. 

“Wow. I did not think you’d actually do that,” Kuroo said, tipping an imaginary hat at them.

“We’re still stopping for hot chocolate,” Kasamatsu said calmly, walking as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.  

**Author's Note:**

> Words used: pink, pit, jabot, jags, grew, case, re, cloyed, yams, doze, wished, shave, flex, fie, quoter, xu, un


End file.
